lotrgollumlifesizeblrg2As we march closer to the Holiday shopping season, we need ideas as to what we may want to buy our loved ones. Well, our friends at Weta Workshop in their most recent newsletter have given us several ideas on what from Middle-earth we can get.

Two new items were unvelied in this group with a huge yet cool looking Gollum 1:1 statue and some beautiful Elven Earrings for only $75.

If you’ve been waiting on some good deals on previously released items you can get Balin’s Mace for $150 (only 10 available for this price), Dwalin’s Axes $199.50 (Only 5 available at this price), free shipping on The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Art Prints, and The One Ring for $85. These deals are good while these limited supplies last or until November 17th whichever comes first.

You can get the full run down of all the fantastic items Weta has on special right now on their Christmas Specials Page.

2238536-pippin_sad_2 Sophie Lapin from the webshow SF Go Pop recently sat down with Billy Boyd (who as we all know played Pippin in The Lord of the Rings) and quizzed him about his thoughts on The Hobbit, and what it felt being on the outside, looking-in after spending so many years of his life intimately involved in Middle-earth.

Check it out! Continue reading “An interview with Billy Boyd about The Hobbit”

Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.
(Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.)

Desolation of Smaug poster artworkWELLINGTON, New Zealand — Those outside of the movie making business often don’t understand what The Producer does on a film. The quickest answer is: They get the movie made. They get things done.

In the case of Zane Weiner on “The Hobbit,” it meant getting in touch with someone nobody was meant to get in touch with.

Evangeline Lilly.

Living in Hawaii, she was a month removed from the birth of her child, email turned off, not taking calls about work and still confined to bed rest.

“So I was still in bed with the baby,” she told TheOneRing.net in full Tauriel outfit and gear during a lunch break on a full day of filming on “The Hobbit.”

This lunch tent, while perhaps not glamorous, is an essential part of Stone Street Studios and making Peter Jackson movies, designed to feed and shelter quite an enormous crowd. Breakfast was served there for anybody wanting to start the day off right. Coffee and tea were available on any sound stage but also in the tent — a first stop for many on a shoot. Continue reading “Evangeline Lilly gets personal with TORn about Tauriel and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’”

Yes, this story will be riddled with spoilers in it, and some snark.

 

ShelobWith less than 2 months to go before The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we at TheOneRing.net thought you might like a little survival guide if you happen to be Arachnophobic or Drakonophobic. The Lord the Rings: The Return of the King was a little hard on many avowed Arachophobe Tolkien fans, this reporter’s sister being one of them. She watched the entire Shelob sequence from behind her purse every time she saw it on the big screen. It was only when she saw it on DVD that she could watch it unfettered.

 

Long before Tolkien conceived of Sam fighting off Shelob to try and save Frodo, he placed an entire Colony of giant Spiders in Mirkwood to trap the Company of Dwarves for Bilbo to rescue. This was Bilbo’s first real challenge to help the Company and he rose to the occasion. Here you can see the fear on Bilbo’s face, but he conquers it to save the Dwarves, and you can conquer your Arachnophobia too. spider-bilbo

 

As for Drakonophobia, that may have been made up word, not quite sure, but better safe than sorry. Now, to be fair, there are probably more Arachnophobes than there are Drakonophobes in the world simply because there are more spiders in the world than there are dragons. We have all those Knights in Shining Armor to thank for that. Except in China, where the dragons settled in the Rivers and became good luck symbols and come out every Chinese New Year. Gung Hey Fat Choy!!!!  Golden Dragon parade

Dragons as seen in Tolkien’s Middle-earth can easily instill Drakonophobia in man and beast alike , and Smaug is the most famous of those dragons. There was fear, mixed with anger and sadness when Thorin told the story of Smaug’s attack on the Lonely mountain, killing so many and driving out the few survivors. Thranduil would not risk his own people to help and Dale was completely destroyed. The entire area around the Lonely Mountain was called the Desolation of Smaug while the Men of Lake-town built their town on stilts over the lake in the hopes of surviving future dragon attacks. Smaug has not been seen in 60 years, and yet Drakonophobia is still affecting the people of Lake-town to this day. But no one is really sure he is still really alive since it’s been so long since he was last seen, at least not until Bilbo makes his fateful first burgal attempt.  Smaug

So, without further ado, here are a few helpful pointers on how to survive your inner phobias when spiders and dragons appear onscreen.

1) Read The Hobbit before the film opens, familiarity makes it easier to handle shocks of this nature, at least the chapters in Mirkwood through Bilbo entering the Lonely Mountain.

2) Go with a really tall friend and sit behind them. If you have no tall friend, find a tall person in the theater and sit behind them.

3) If you prefer to see the film unfettered, then bring a jacket or purse to put in front of your eyes during the spider or dragon scenes.

4) Failing a jacket or purse, buy a soda or popcorn to raise up, my preference would be popcorn, because if you spill it from fright, it is less messy and certainly not cold or sticky.

5) Bring Litzi (Red Envelope with money or gold in it) purely to use as a Chinese New Year gift/bribe

6) Put on your Ring of Power and hide

7) Hold hands with your best friend, try not to cut off the circulation.

8) Run out of the theater during the scary bits (works for children)

9) If running out of the theater seems to be a waste of money, just close your eyes, but you may need to hold your hands over years ears too, those spiders seem to make some creepy noises. Smaug, on the other hand has a rather awesome voice.

10) Wait for the film to come out on DVD/Blu-ray

Leonard as FrodoWelcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week.  If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch up on the highlights.  Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions.  Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards.  Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!

Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – October 27, 2013”